While observing the different students within both of the Tech Club classes I noticed that there were a couple students that seemed to have a little more need for some assistive technology. I chose to perform the Technology Screening on a 4th grade student named Nina from Mr. Quarles' class because she displays characteristics of a student that would be categorized as a high functioning autistic. She has a hard time focusing during lessons, is easily distracted, and does not work with the other students in the way that is typical for a student her age.
Eye Movement
When I asked Nina various questions like "what did you eat for breakfast this morning" or "what did you wear to school yesterday" at first her body movement seemed to show that she was a little out of her element. Nina typically moves around a lot when sitting down espeically if she is interacting with someone, but it isn't always because she is nervous. I think Nina was a little uncomfortable at first, but then when I started asking her some other questions that were integrated into our conversation I noticed that she was more relaxed and I could focus more on her eye movement. Her eyes initially would drift down and to the left whenever she was thinking of an answer to a question but then I observed that she would look both left and right as well as down and to the left or right. I decided that Nina's eye movements showed that she is most definitely a kinesthetic learner and enjoys moving her body or moving while learning, and like writing or drawing to learn. Thinking back to some of the early Tech Club lessons I could see how these preferences are evident and I feel that this student would be more acceptive of lessons that included hands-on activities to enhance the learning process. Looking side to side also is characteristic of someone that is auditory and likes to learn through sounds and words. Nina does not demonstrate the characteristics of a great listener when it comes to taking instructions, but I feel that she heavily relies on her auditory senses because of her tendencies to become distracted by noises created around her while she is learning. If these distractions became the learning (books on tape, recorded lessons by the teacher, etc.), Nina would be able to focus better on what is being taught than being distracted by additional noise in her environment. I would most definitley recommend using crafts and hands-on projects with Nina and when a lesson calls for a different type of approach I believe that letting Nina sit in a quiet place with headphones listening to material would be greatly beneficial to her learning development.
Color
I spoke with Nina about if she had ever used a colored reading filter or anything like colored transparencies to help her when she reads and she answered 'no.' I believe her because I have never seen Mr. Quarles use any colored tools in the classroom. I showed Nina some examples of colored reading filters and explained how they work. Nina does not have problems staying on one line at a time while she reads and she demonstrated that the different uses of colored tools would not really change the way Nina approaches or receives information. While I was showing her the different types and colors or filters, she did tell me that she liked the red or the pink colored ones the best because they were easier to read than some of the other colors like blue. I then had Nina look at some PowerPoint slides that had different color combinations (different background colors and text colors) and asked her if she perfered any particular combinations over others.
She seemed to like the slides with the lighter background colors with darker and more contrasting text colors than having a bright text color and dark background; this pattern relates to regular books and text forms with a dark text on a light background, which is good for reading purposes with Nina. I would make sure to create presentations and materials that relfected this pattern to ensure that Nina will understand what is being presented to her; this corresponds to websites and computer activities too because I know that many child programs/software like extremely bright and contrasting colors that ultimately become difficult to read.
Lighting
Nina and I discussed the different forms of lighting that are in her environment. She said that she likes the lighting in the classroom (florescent bulbs) because she can read everything well. I asked her about reading outside and using the sun as a light source, but she said that she did not like reading outside because of the shadows and not just because of the weather. When I aksed her about reading or doing schoolwork at home she explained that she uses a lamp in her room that sits on her desk to do her schoolwork with. I found that as long as there is strong and clear lighting in the room, Nina will be able to perform well; I would not recommend turning off lights when she is asked to write.
Highlighting
I first asked Nina if she ever uses a highlighter and to this she said 'what?' because she doesn't ever use highlighters. I brought out some different examples varying in color and size of the pen and the pen tip. I let her experiment highlighting text with the different examples I had so that she could see how these tools can be utilized. Like the coloring section, she favored the red/pink highlighters and thought that it was easier to read. This was simply her preference and I didn't want to go into much more detail about why she liked the pink highlighter over the blue, green, or yellow.
I would recommend that Nina should start to utilize highlighters because I know that she loves to draw and color so giving her information to highlight and read through could be a great approach for her learning. I would definitely stick with a pink highlighter and would even try giving Nina handouts or materials that already have important information highlighted in pink for her to focus on.
Copying
Nina did not seem to have a preference in copying information from one source onto her own paper or whatever she was using to record information. I would watch her during her regular clas instruction as well as during Tech Club and she was very receptive to all of the methods we used to present concepts; she had no problem copying information as long as it was easy for her to read. I've already discussed her choices of a light background with dark text and red/pink colored material so using this information I would recommend adapting lessons that use this to the teacher's advantage. Since Nina has not been exposed to many different types of assistive technology I would experiment with using highlighters or different ways to read and record information understanding her preferences.
Paper
Nina enjoys writing on lined wide-ruled notebook paper. She feels that it helps her keep her writing neat and organized unlike writing on unlined paper such as printer paper. Her preferences of a light background and dark text come into play as she explained how she has pink and blue paper at home that is fun to write on but is not something she would like to use for school because sometimes it can be hard to read what was written on the colored paper. I would continue to have Nina write on the lined wide-ruled printer paper.
Doing Math Computations
I asked Nina if she has her own personal calculator and then had her describe it to me when she told me that she did have a particular calculator she uses at school and at home. She said that it had about medium-sized keys and a corresponding sized screen. I then asked if she had ever used a calculator with large buttons and a bigger screen and she said that her mom used one at home. Nina went on to tell how she liked using her mom's big calculator and I discovered that this was because of the larger keys. Not only did it seem like Nina enjoyed using the bigger calculator because it was different, but also because it was easier for her to use. I would recommend that Nina have her own large calculator to help her complete math computations in class and at home becuase it would help her and might be fun for her as well. I then asked Nina about using gird paper. She said she had never used it before so I showed her some examples of different types of grid paper. I think that Nina would benefit from using the traditional blue gird paper with around the 1/2 inch size squares because she would be easily able to handle that size; she said that the blue grid paper was easier for her to read than the other colors, especially yellow.
Pens, Pencils, and Erasers
I had noticed before doing the screening that Nina holds her writing utensils with a nice hand grip, unlike myself. Nina seemed to be taught the "proper" way to hold a pen when she was learning to write and so now she seems to have no trouble holding writing utensils. Nina does not use any of the stylized grips for pens of pencils, just whatever grip is attached to the pen or pencil she is using. I showed her some examples like the ones pictured below and had her write a sentence or two using some of the different grips.
Nina wrote fine using each of the different grips I had her try, but she wrote just as well using a pen or pencil without any type of grip. I also had her try holding and using different types of pens and found that there was little preference to those as well. She had never used a gel pen and after I showed her one she said that she would probably only use one to use with art and not to write with regularly.
When I asked her about pencils, Nina explained that she would rather use a wooden pencil than a mechanical pencil because of the lead and the eraser. I also discovered that she likes to use writing tools that have erasers attached on the end such as pens with erasers and wooden pencils.
She likes the separate erasers, but she likes to have everything all together; she would rather just have the eraser attached to the pen or pencil. She does not have a tendency to use the eraser and rub a hole in the paper (she said she only did this when the eraser had been rubbed down to nearly nothing). I would continue to provide Nina with writing instruments that include an eraser attached to the end because she admitted that she makes a number of mistakes and like to correct her work instead of crossing it out and moving on.
Using Books on Tape
Nina explained that she has used books on tape and the last time she listened to one it was a textbook recording. She said that she understands the material well when she listens to it; I feel that she would benefit more if she not only listened to a book quietly on her own, but also had something like a script or a picture to look at to keep her focused on the reading. She likes using books on tape, but she says that she doesn't listen to them very often. While reading, if she realizes that she does not understnad what she is reading or has zoned out while reading, she starts all over instead of continueing to read. I would like to see Nina use books on tape more because I feel that she would focus more on the material because the audio would help eliminate the other distractions made in her environment (e.g. students arguing, teachers talking, and other additional noise).
Working with Maps
In the classroom Nina uses the large map that is attached to the front wall. The map is easy to read for her and everything is well labeled. She does not need any special tool or device (magnifying glass, etc.) to help her read the map. When it comes to using smaller maps such as those found in her textbooks she can still read and comprehed them with ease. I don't believe that Nina would need any additional technology to help her work with maps because she is working efficiently with them now.
Music in the Background
Nina said that she does not like music in the background especially when she is trying to read because she finds it distracting; I completely agree with her response as I see that noise in general allows her to become unfocused from her tasks. She likes her environment quiet so that she can focus better. She did explain how she liked listening to music while working on math assignments; the only reason I can think of for this exception is that she focuses better while working on math than she does with other subjects that rely heavily on reading. I would recommend that when Nina needs to work on assignments or tasks that require reading, there should not be any music or noise in the background that would easily distract her from completing her work.
Marking the Place
Nina does not feel the need to mark her place except for a bookmark when she is reading a book. I also cannot see the direct application of this area to Nina because she does not have a problem losing her place while reading through material. She said that if she needed to mark something in a book to remind her to come back to it at a later time, she would most likely use a Post-It note.
Organizing
Nina enjoys seeing what she needs to complete each day at school. Mr. Quarles posts the class schedule on the front board each day as well as other information (like the week's spelling words) to keep the students aware of what is on task for the day or week. I recommend creating a checklist for Nina that lists the daily agenda or the weekly schedule, something that would allow her to see what she needs to look forward to or prepare for. The clock in the room is helpful for Nina too; she doesn't haev any trouble reading it although it is a traditional minute and hour hands clock. Nina also keeps her desk and her room at home very organized and has various folders to help her keep track of different assignments for different subject areas. I have to say that Mr. Quarles does a nice job of helping Nina focus on organization as he provides the appropriate tools to do so; the agenda, the file folders, the specified areas for different items in the classroom, all help keep the classroom organized. Nina seems prepared and does not appear to have any issues with organization. Even when she is not sure when something is due, she looks onto the board or in her planner to check and figure out what papers she needs to keep.
I used these following resources to complete the technology screening and come to my conclusions:
Assistive Technology for Special Kids
Personal Choices Student Survey
Technology Continuum Handout
Eye Movement
When I asked Nina various questions like "what did you eat for breakfast this morning" or "what did you wear to school yesterday" at first her body movement seemed to show that she was a little out of her element. Nina typically moves around a lot when sitting down espeically if she is interacting with someone, but it isn't always because she is nervous. I think Nina was a little uncomfortable at first, but then when I started asking her some other questions that were integrated into our conversation I noticed that she was more relaxed and I could focus more on her eye movement. Her eyes initially would drift down and to the left whenever she was thinking of an answer to a question but then I observed that she would look both left and right as well as down and to the left or right. I decided that Nina's eye movements showed that she is most definitely a kinesthetic learner and enjoys moving her body or moving while learning, and like writing or drawing to learn. Thinking back to some of the early Tech Club lessons I could see how these preferences are evident and I feel that this student would be more acceptive of lessons that included hands-on activities to enhance the learning process. Looking side to side also is characteristic of someone that is auditory and likes to learn through sounds and words. Nina does not demonstrate the characteristics of a great listener when it comes to taking instructions, but I feel that she heavily relies on her auditory senses because of her tendencies to become distracted by noises created around her while she is learning. If these distractions became the learning (books on tape, recorded lessons by the teacher, etc.), Nina would be able to focus better on what is being taught than being distracted by additional noise in her environment. I would most definitley recommend using crafts and hands-on projects with Nina and when a lesson calls for a different type of approach I believe that letting Nina sit in a quiet place with headphones listening to material would be greatly beneficial to her learning development.
Color
I spoke with Nina about if she had ever used a colored reading filter or anything like colored transparencies to help her when she reads and she answered 'no.' I believe her because I have never seen Mr. Quarles use any colored tools in the classroom. I showed Nina some examples of colored reading filters and explained how they work. Nina does not have problems staying on one line at a time while she reads and she demonstrated that the different uses of colored tools would not really change the way Nina approaches or receives information. While I was showing her the different types and colors or filters, she did tell me that she liked the red or the pink colored ones the best because they were easier to read than some of the other colors like blue. I then had Nina look at some PowerPoint slides that had different color combinations (different background colors and text colors) and asked her if she perfered any particular combinations over others.
She seemed to like the slides with the lighter background colors with darker and more contrasting text colors than having a bright text color and dark background; this pattern relates to regular books and text forms with a dark text on a light background, which is good for reading purposes with Nina. I would make sure to create presentations and materials that relfected this pattern to ensure that Nina will understand what is being presented to her; this corresponds to websites and computer activities too because I know that many child programs/software like extremely bright and contrasting colors that ultimately become difficult to read.
Lighting
Nina and I discussed the different forms of lighting that are in her environment. She said that she likes the lighting in the classroom (florescent bulbs) because she can read everything well. I asked her about reading outside and using the sun as a light source, but she said that she did not like reading outside because of the shadows and not just because of the weather. When I aksed her about reading or doing schoolwork at home she explained that she uses a lamp in her room that sits on her desk to do her schoolwork with. I found that as long as there is strong and clear lighting in the room, Nina will be able to perform well; I would not recommend turning off lights when she is asked to write.
Highlighting
I first asked Nina if she ever uses a highlighter and to this she said 'what?' because she doesn't ever use highlighters. I brought out some different examples varying in color and size of the pen and the pen tip. I let her experiment highlighting text with the different examples I had so that she could see how these tools can be utilized. Like the coloring section, she favored the red/pink highlighters and thought that it was easier to read. This was simply her preference and I didn't want to go into much more detail about why she liked the pink highlighter over the blue, green, or yellow.
I would recommend that Nina should start to utilize highlighters because I know that she loves to draw and color so giving her information to highlight and read through could be a great approach for her learning. I would definitely stick with a pink highlighter and would even try giving Nina handouts or materials that already have important information highlighted in pink for her to focus on.
Copying
Nina did not seem to have a preference in copying information from one source onto her own paper or whatever she was using to record information. I would watch her during her regular clas instruction as well as during Tech Club and she was very receptive to all of the methods we used to present concepts; she had no problem copying information as long as it was easy for her to read. I've already discussed her choices of a light background with dark text and red/pink colored material so using this information I would recommend adapting lessons that use this to the teacher's advantage. Since Nina has not been exposed to many different types of assistive technology I would experiment with using highlighters or different ways to read and record information understanding her preferences.
Paper
Nina enjoys writing on lined wide-ruled notebook paper. She feels that it helps her keep her writing neat and organized unlike writing on unlined paper such as printer paper. Her preferences of a light background and dark text come into play as she explained how she has pink and blue paper at home that is fun to write on but is not something she would like to use for school because sometimes it can be hard to read what was written on the colored paper. I would continue to have Nina write on the lined wide-ruled printer paper.
Doing Math Computations
I asked Nina if she has her own personal calculator and then had her describe it to me when she told me that she did have a particular calculator she uses at school and at home. She said that it had about medium-sized keys and a corresponding sized screen. I then asked if she had ever used a calculator with large buttons and a bigger screen and she said that her mom used one at home. Nina went on to tell how she liked using her mom's big calculator and I discovered that this was because of the larger keys. Not only did it seem like Nina enjoyed using the bigger calculator because it was different, but also because it was easier for her to use. I would recommend that Nina have her own large calculator to help her complete math computations in class and at home becuase it would help her and might be fun for her as well. I then asked Nina about using gird paper. She said she had never used it before so I showed her some examples of different types of grid paper. I think that Nina would benefit from using the traditional blue gird paper with around the 1/2 inch size squares because she would be easily able to handle that size; she said that the blue grid paper was easier for her to read than the other colors, especially yellow.
Pens, Pencils, and Erasers
I had noticed before doing the screening that Nina holds her writing utensils with a nice hand grip, unlike myself. Nina seemed to be taught the "proper" way to hold a pen when she was learning to write and so now she seems to have no trouble holding writing utensils. Nina does not use any of the stylized grips for pens of pencils, just whatever grip is attached to the pen or pencil she is using. I showed her some examples like the ones pictured below and had her write a sentence or two using some of the different grips.
She likes the separate erasers, but she likes to have everything all together; she would rather just have the eraser attached to the pen or pencil. She does not have a tendency to use the eraser and rub a hole in the paper (she said she only did this when the eraser had been rubbed down to nearly nothing). I would continue to provide Nina with writing instruments that include an eraser attached to the end because she admitted that she makes a number of mistakes and like to correct her work instead of crossing it out and moving on.
Using Books on Tape
Nina explained that she has used books on tape and the last time she listened to one it was a textbook recording. She said that she understands the material well when she listens to it; I feel that she would benefit more if she not only listened to a book quietly on her own, but also had something like a script or a picture to look at to keep her focused on the reading. She likes using books on tape, but she says that she doesn't listen to them very often. While reading, if she realizes that she does not understnad what she is reading or has zoned out while reading, she starts all over instead of continueing to read. I would like to see Nina use books on tape more because I feel that she would focus more on the material because the audio would help eliminate the other distractions made in her environment (e.g. students arguing, teachers talking, and other additional noise).
Working with Maps
In the classroom Nina uses the large map that is attached to the front wall. The map is easy to read for her and everything is well labeled. She does not need any special tool or device (magnifying glass, etc.) to help her read the map. When it comes to using smaller maps such as those found in her textbooks she can still read and comprehed them with ease. I don't believe that Nina would need any additional technology to help her work with maps because she is working efficiently with them now.
Music in the Background
Nina said that she does not like music in the background especially when she is trying to read because she finds it distracting; I completely agree with her response as I see that noise in general allows her to become unfocused from her tasks. She likes her environment quiet so that she can focus better. She did explain how she liked listening to music while working on math assignments; the only reason I can think of for this exception is that she focuses better while working on math than she does with other subjects that rely heavily on reading. I would recommend that when Nina needs to work on assignments or tasks that require reading, there should not be any music or noise in the background that would easily distract her from completing her work.
Marking the Place
Nina does not feel the need to mark her place except for a bookmark when she is reading a book. I also cannot see the direct application of this area to Nina because she does not have a problem losing her place while reading through material. She said that if she needed to mark something in a book to remind her to come back to it at a later time, she would most likely use a Post-It note.
Organizing
Nina enjoys seeing what she needs to complete each day at school. Mr. Quarles posts the class schedule on the front board each day as well as other information (like the week's spelling words) to keep the students aware of what is on task for the day or week. I recommend creating a checklist for Nina that lists the daily agenda or the weekly schedule, something that would allow her to see what she needs to look forward to or prepare for. The clock in the room is helpful for Nina too; she doesn't haev any trouble reading it although it is a traditional minute and hour hands clock. Nina also keeps her desk and her room at home very organized and has various folders to help her keep track of different assignments for different subject areas. I have to say that Mr. Quarles does a nice job of helping Nina focus on organization as he provides the appropriate tools to do so; the agenda, the file folders, the specified areas for different items in the classroom, all help keep the classroom organized. Nina seems prepared and does not appear to have any issues with organization. Even when she is not sure when something is due, she looks onto the board or in her planner to check and figure out what papers she needs to keep.